If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Bedtime problems

My daughter is just now nearing 3 months old. So far she has been quite content to sleep in her swing or bouncer seat but I have been unable to get her to sleep in either her cot or pack n play for more than 15 minutes at a time. I get her to sleep, put her down, and she's immediately up and crying again. Does anyone have any advice on how to transition her to her cot?

Starting the transition during nap time in the best way to begin. I would feed her and lay her down drowsy. You can rock her if you like. With my boys I played soothing music to help calm them but it isn't absolutely necessary, that's just something that helped us. Since she is only 3 months old she isn't quite at the age where you can "sleep train her" or as I like to think of it, develop a sleep routine or schedule. Babies take a lot of naps and I recall at that age (during the day) my boys sleeping sometimes 20 minutes and other times much longer. I kind of just went with the flow.

If you find it's a huge struggle to get her to transition her to cot just hold off for a bit and try again in a couple of weeks. If she's content and sleeping well it just may not be worth the stress at this time. I promise you, she won't sleep in that swing forever

Babies find "white noise" very soothing. Running water, the hair dryer or vacuum, or even "static" like you'd hear on the radio (white noise). They also love movement (the swing) and to suck (at the breast, on their hands, on a dummy). They also like to be tightly swaddled.

All of these things remind your daughter of the womb. It was warm, and there was little room for movement. She constantly heard your heartbeat, and lots of muffled noises from people you were talking to, the TV, etc. She was being "rocked" every time you moved, and she finds this comforting (thus the longer sleeping in the swing and bouncy seat).

If you really want to get her to sleep longer in her cot, you could try adding white noise for the full amount of time she sleeps, to see if that helps her stay asleep. Otherwise, she may just be like many of my babies were... they loved to sleep in the swing at 3 months of age. Sometimes my babies would fall asleep (and stay asleep) on the bed, if I breastfed them to sleep. We co-slept with all of our babies, so the bed was familiar to them.

Here's a page that shows how to calm a crying baby, and how the "5 S's" help babies to settle and sleep longer.

I definitely agree with white noise or some type of noise. My oldest child has always needed some type of white noise or music to fall asleep at night. He still does, and he is six years old now. I also agree that she is still a bit young, and it may take some time to get her to be able to sleep on her own. When my children were that age, I used baby carriers a lot and I also co-slept (just make sure to use safety precautions). I know it is difficult during those first months of having a new baby, but babies really do need comfort often. They are still learning to adjust to the outside world, and your warmth and your touch comforts your little one right now.

I agree with the above comments and what Jessica has suggested is the style I took with my baby.

We co-slept and this was wonderful as I didn't fully wake up in the night when he needed feeding and sometimes he would even latch himself on. As Jessica says, you need to take the proper precautions with this (which includes not being under the influence of alcohol or excessively tired) but once you follow these it is a very safe way for your baby to sleep.

I also found baby wearing excellent. When my baby was 3 months old we used a Kari Me sling and he would fall asleep within 15 minutes of going into this. I think he liked to be close to me and feel my heartbeat and it helped him to feel secure.

I'm just wondering whether you are breastfeeding your baby as I would often feed my baby to sleep?